Method for Treating Electrode Tabs of Crude Cell for Lithium Secondary Battery, and Crude Cell and Lithium Secondary Battery According to the Method

ABSTRACT

A method for treating electrode tabs of a crude cell for a lithium secondary battery, a crude cell for a lithium secondary battery manufactured according to the method, and a lithium secondary battery employing the crude cell are disclosed. The method for treating electrode tabs of a crude cell provided with a plurality of anode plates having respective anode grids, a plurality of anode plates having respective anode grids includes the steps of: (a) welding a tab member to an end of a grid of the crude cell to create a welded portion; and (b) attaching an insulating tape to the circumference of the electrode tab so that the insulating tape can wrap around the electrode tab, which is formed by the welded portion.

This divisional application claims the benefit of Korean PatentApplication Number 10-2002-0032762 filed Jun. 12, 2002; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/446,272, filed May 23, 2003 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,067,218); and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/474,877, filed Jun.26, 2006, the complete disclosures of which are hereby expresslyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a lithium secondary battery, and moreparticularly, to a method for treating electrode tabs of a crude cellfor a lithium secondary battery, in which the capacity of the batterycan be increased by increasing the length of electrode members withoutchanging the predetermined specification of a battery package member,and stability of portions of electrode tabs where the tabs are welded togrids, respectively, can be enhanced by using insulation tap, and acrude cell for a lithium secondary battery manufactured according to themethod and a lithium secondary battery employing the crude cell.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, since portable electronic appliances such as a video camera,a portable phone, and a portable PC become lighter in weight and aredesigned to do various functions, various research and developmentconcerning a battery used as an electric source of such electronicappliances have been performed. Such a battery is usually made to berechargeable and can be used continuously.

Usually, among batteries, a nickel cadmium battery, nickel hydrogenbattery, nickel zinc battery, lithium secondary battery, or the like isused as an electric power source of electronic appliances, and thelithium secondary battery of those batteries is generally used inconsideration of its life time and capacity.

According to the type of electrolyte, the lithium secondary battery canbe classified into a lithium metal battery and a lithium ion battery,which employ a liquid electrolyte, and a lithium polymer battery, whichemploys a polymer solid electrolyte. According to the type of polymersolid electrolyte, the lithium polymer battery can be classified into afull-solid type lithium polymer battery, which does not contain anorganic electrolyte, and a lithium ion polymer battery, which employs agel type electrolyte containing organic electrolyte liquid.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a structure of aconventional lithium secondary battery.

Referring to FIG. 1, the lithium secondary battery 10 comprises a crudecell 20 and a package member 40 for receiving the crude cell 20.

The crude cell 20 has a structure stacked with a plurality of unit cells28 or bi-cells 27 according to a capacity of a battery. Here, as shownin FIG. 2A, each unit cell 28 is composed of an anode plate 22, aseparator 24, and a cathode plate 26 in sequence, and as shown in FIG.2B, each bi-cell 27 is composed of an anode plate 21, a separator 23, acathode plate 25, a separator 23, and a cathode plate 25 in sequence.

As shown in FIG. 1, the crude cell 20 includes an anode tab 12 and acathode tab 14. The anode tab 12 is formed by gathering anode grids 16provided at respective anode plates and joining the anode grids 16 to ananode tab member 11 by welding. The cathode tab 14 is formed bygathering cathode grids 18 provided at respective cathode plates andjoining the cathode grids 18 to a cathode tab member 13 by welding. Thetab members 11 and 13 are provided with resin members 17 adhered tonon-resin members 15 made of aluminum or nickel, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the package member 40 is provided with areceiving portion 32 into which the crude cell 20 is received and asealing portion 34 which is hermetically sealed after the receivingportion 32 is filled with an electrolyte. The receiving portion 32 iscomposed of a first receiving portion 36 into which the anode andcathode plates are substantially received, and a second receivingportion 38 into which anode and cathode tabs 16 and 18 are received. Theresin members 17 are interposed between the sealing portions 34, preventthe electrolyte (not shown) from leaking out, and prevent possible shortcircuit in the region of the tab members 11 and 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the structure of the conventional lithiumsecondary battery 101 when the width of the battery, and the thicknessof the battery, i.e., the number of electrode plates are assumed to bethe same as those of the other one, the capacity of the battery dependson the length of the battery, in particular, the length of electrodeplates which contains an electrode material. Therefore, in order toincrease the capacity of the battery, there is a method of increasingthe length d3 of the first receiving portion 36 by decreasing the lengthd1 or length d2 of the whole length d of the battery, i.e., the lengthd1 of the second receiving portion 38 which is occupied by theanode/cathode tabs 12 and 14, or the length d2 of the sealing portion34. That is to say, the length d3 of the first receiving portion 36 canbe relatively increased as much as the decreased length of the length d1of the second receiving portion 38 or the length d2 of the sealingportion 34. However, in the crude cell 20 of the conventional lithiumsecondary battery 10, since the minimum length of anode/cathode grids 16and 18 and the minimum length of a weld portion 19 must be secured inthe anode/cathode tabs 12 and 14, there is a limitation in which thesecond receiving portion 38 is to be considered as a dead space in themanufacturing process of the lithium secondary battery until now.

As shown in FIG. 3, there is a strong possibility that the packagemember 40 is damaged by the welded portion 19 to which the grids 16 and18 and the tab members 11 and 13 are welded, or rough and sharp portionsexisting in the anode/cathode tabs 12 and 14. Therefore, in theconventional lithium secondary battery 10, there is a problem in whichthe package member 40 can be damaged by such a welded portion 19, orportions of the electrode tabs 12 and 14, this causes short-circuit tooccur, and, therefore, the battery may malfunction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above-described problems, it is an objective of the presentinvention to provide a method for treating electrode tabs of a crudecell for a lithium secondary battery which has an improved structurecapable of preventing short-circuit occurring when a package member istorn by electrode tabs, in particular, a sharp portion of a weldedportion to which grids and tab members are welded, or the like, andcapable of increasing the capacity of the battery by increasing thelength of electrode plates as much as a decreased portion of the lengthof a dead space of an electrode tab portion, and a crude cell and alithium secondary battery according to the method.

Accordingly, to achieve the above object, there is provided a method oftreating electrode tabs of a crude cell for a lithium secondary batteryincluding the steps of: (a) welding a tab member to one ends of grids ofthe crude cell; and (b) attaching insulating tape to the circumferenceof an electrode tab so that the insulating tape can wrap around theelectrode tab which is formed by a welded portion of the grids and thetab member.

To achieve the above object, there is provided a method of treatingelectrode tabs of a crude cell for a lithium secondary battery includingthe steps of: (a) respectively, gathering anode grids and cathode gridsof the crude cell provided with a plurality of anode plates havingrespective anode grids, a plurality of cathode plates having respectivecathode grids, and a separator strip interposed between the anode platesand the cathode plates which are disposed alternately; (b) welding ananode tab member and a cathode tab to respective end portions of theanode grids and the cathode grids to form an anode side welded portionand a cathode side welded portion; and (c) attaching insulating tape tothe anode side welded portion and the cathode side welded portion withan adhesive so that the insulating tape wraps around the weldedportions.

To achieve the above object, there is provided a method of treatingelectrode tabs of a crude cell provided with a plurality of anode plateshaving respective anode grids, a plurality of cathode plates havingrespective cathode grids, and a separator strip interposed, in a fold tofold manner, between the anode plates and the cathode plates which aredisposed alternately including the steps of: (a) gathering the anodegrids and the cathode grids, respectively, so that the grids can beclose to a first surface and be substantially parallel to the firstsurface, and cutting the end portions of the anode grids and the cathodegrids so that the anode grids and the cathode grids can have theshortest length required for being welded to respective tab members; (b)welding an anode tab member and a cathode tab member to respective endportions of the anode grids and the cathode grids to form an anode sidewelded portion and a cathode side welded portion having lengths as shortas possible; (c) attaching insulating tape to the anode side weldedportion and the cathode side welded portion so that the insulating tapecan wrap the welded portions; (d) bending the anode grids and thecathode grids at respective first bend portions so that the grids can beclose to a second surface which is opposite to the first surface, and besubstantially perpendicular to the second surface; and (e) bending therespective tab members at respective second bend portions so that thetab members can be close to the respective first bend portion, and besubstantially parallel to the first surface.

It is preferable that in the insulating tape attaching step, theinsulating tape is made of polyimide or polypropylene film havingcharacteristics of heat-resistance and chemical inertness, and theinsulating tape is attached with an acrylate-based adhesive orsilicone-based adhesive.

It is preferable that the first bend portions are formed at respectivepositions within respective areas where the insulating tape is attachedto the anode grids and the cathode grids except the areas of the weldedportions.

It is preferable that each of the second bend portions are formed at aposition which is at least farther than the welded portion from thefirst bend portion, and is positioned within the portion of the tabmember to which the insulating tape is attached.

It is preferable that in the first bend portion and the second bendportion may be formed at positions which are substantially close to bothsides of the insulating tape.

It is preferable that (a) the separator is provided with asingle-layered or multi-layered porous polymer film made of polyethyleneor polypropylene, has the form of a single strip, and is multiply foldedin a fold to fold fashion so that the anode plates and the cathodeplates can be stacked alternately; (b) the anode plates having the samepredetermined size are equidistantly attached to one surface of theseparator with an ion conductive polymer adhesive; and (c) the cathodeplates having the same predetermined size are attached to the othersurface of the separator at positions corresponding to the anode plateswith an ion conductive polymer adhesive.

It is preferable that the circumferential surface of the crude cellformed in a fold to fold configuration is wrapped with wrapping tape.

It is preferable that in the welding step, welding is not performed atthe same time at the cathode side and the anode side, and any one of twotab members is welded to corresponding grids first and the other tabmember is welded to the other grids.

To achieve the above object, there is provided a lithium secondarybattery including a crude cell made according to any one of theabove-mentioned methods; and a package member which receives the crudecell so that any substantial dead space may not be formed at anelectrode tab portion of the crude cell, and can be hermetically sealedafter an electrolyte is filled into the package member.

To achieve the above object, there is provided a crude cell for alithium secondary battery including: a plurality of anode plates havingrespective grids; a plurality of cathode plates having respective grids;a separator; an anode tab member and a cathode tab member; andinsulating tape; wherein the anode tab member and the cathode tab memberare welded to the anode grids and the cathode grids, respectively, andthe welded portions are wrapped with the insulating tape.

It is preferable that at least two bend portions are formed at a gridportion and a tab member portion.

To achieve the above object, there is provided a lithium secondarybattery including: a crude cell of claim; a package member for receivingthe crude cell, and an electrolyte filled in the package member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objective and advantages of the present invention will becomemore apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof withreference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a conventionallithium secondary battery;

FIG. 2A is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of a unitcell of a conventional lithium secondary battery;

FIG. 2B is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of a bi-cellof a conventional lithium secondary battery;

FIG. 3 is a section view schematically illustrating a structure of aconventional lithium secondary battery;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating alithium secondary battery according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a section view of the battery of FIG. 4 in the assembledstate;

FIG. 6 is a section view schematically illustrating a structure of thepackage member shown in FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIGS. 7A through 7H are process diagrams conceptually illustrating amethod of treating electrode tabs according to a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of the method of treatingelectrode tabs of a crude cell for a lithium secondary battery accordingto a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a process diagram illustrating a process of gathering grids ofa crude cell toward a position, in the step of gathering and cuttinggrids in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating the step of attachinginsulating tape to a welded portion with an adhesive;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating the step of forming a firstbend portion in FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating the step of forming a secondbend portion in FIG. 8;

FIGS. 13 through 15 are process diagrams schematically illustrating thesteps of a method of treating electrode tabs of a crude cell for alithium secondary battery according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic section view of a lithium secondary batteryemploying the crude cell shown in FIG. 15; and

FIG. 17 is a schematic section view illustrating a structure of alithium secondary battery employing a crude cell according to stillanother embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Now, a method of treating electrode tabs of a crude cell for a lithiumsecondary battery according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, and a crude and a lithium secondary battery according to themethod will be described in detail with reference to the attacheddrawings.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating alithium secondary battery according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, and FIG. 5 is a section view of the battery of FIG. 4in the assembled state.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a lithium secondary battery according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention is comprised of a crudecell 110 having a structure of an anode plate/a separator/a cathodeplate, and a package member 120 capable of receiving the crude cell 110and being sealed.

Theoretically, crude cell 110 may be a lithium secondary ion battery ora lithium secondary polymer battery. In addition, the crude cell 110 maybe a unit cell or bi-cell, or a cell formed by stacking the unit cellsor the bi-cells. Further, each electrode plate (the anode plate or thecathode plate) is comprised of a main body of an electrode plate, and agrid extending from the electrode plate.

The grids are classified into anode grids and cathode grids, and theanode grids and the cathode grids may be disposed at opposite sidepositions with respect to the lengthwise direction of the crude cell110. However, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the anode grids andthe cathode grids are disposed at the same side position with respect tothe lengthwise direction of the crude cell 110.

In general, the crude cell 110 is distinguished from a battery 100, initself, in which the crude cell 110 is received in the package member120, an electrolyte is filled in the package member 120, and the packagemember 120 is hermetically sealed. In addition, although the term ‘crudecell’ is used together with the term ‘battery assembly (electrodeassembly)’, the term ‘crude cell’ is used in this embodiment unlessspecifically stated otherwise.

Although the crude cell may have any of various structures describedabove, it is preferable that the crude cell 110 is manufactured by theapparatus as disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2001-28493(Automated system for manufacturing lithium secondary battery), KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2001-28494 (Lamination Apparatus for automatedsystem for manufacturing lithium secondary battery), and Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2001-28495 (Packing apparatus for automated systemfor manufacturing lithium secondary battery), which were filed on May23, 2001 by the applicant of the present invention.

A schematic structure of the crude cell 110 is a laminated structurehaving 3 layers of an anode plate/a separator/a cathode plate, and willbe described as follows.

In the crude cell 110, the anode plate 111 is made by coating a positiveactive material on one or both surfaces of a metal foil collector suchas an aluminium foil collector, and drying the positive active material,and an anode grid is formed to be extended from a portion of thecollector where the positive active material is not coated. The cathodeplate 113 is made by coating a negative active material on one or bothsurfaces of a metal foil collector such as a copper foil collector, anddrying the negative active material, and a cathode grid is formed to beextended from a portion of the collector where the negative activematerial is not coated. The separator 115 includes at least one porouspolymer membrane of polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), and has asingle-layered or multi-layered structure. The separator 115 furtherincludes adhesive portions to which the anode plate 111 and the cathodeplate 113 are attached, an insulating portion for insulating the anodeplate and the cathode plate from each other, and a winding portion forwinding the surface of a laminate when the laminate is finally formedwith the anode/cathode plates. Here, the adhesive portion and theinsulating portion are formed in sequence, and the length of theinsulating portion is set to be slightly longer than that of theadhesive length. The reason is that although the adhesive portion hasthe same width as the width of the anode plate or the cathode plate, theinsulating portion must have an additional length as much as thethickness of the anode plate or the cathode plate since the insulatingportion must be folded about a side of the anode plate or the cathodeplate. In addition, it is preferable that the winding portion has asufficient length enough to wind the electrode laminate. It ispreferable that an ion-conductive polymer adhesive (not shown) which isapplied to the surface of the separator 115 is selected among solventtype adhesives utilizing ion-conductive polymers, for example, anstyrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) latex-based adhesive, an acrylic solventadhesive, an adhesive utilizing polyacrylonitrile (PAN), an adhesiveusing a blend of PAN and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), an polymeradhesive using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), or their like. After theseparator 115 is folded in a zigzag manner, more accurately in a fold tofold manner so that the anode plates and the cathode plates mayalternate with each other, the folded separator 115 is taped with agiven length of tape 117 for convenience of subsequent processes.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the package member 120 comprises a firstreceiving portion 121 for receiving a main body of the crude cell 110, asealing portion 123 provided around the first receiving portion 121, anda second receiving portion 131 for receiving an electrode tab 130portion. As shown in FIG. 6, the package member 120 is made of a thinaluminium plate having a thickness of about 20˜50 μm, and apolypropylene film 129 having a thickness of about 30 μm is attachedwith an adhesive 127 to the inner surfaces of the aluminum member 125,i.e., the surfaces for receiving the crude cell 1101 and a nylon film122 is attached with an adhesive 127 to the outer surfaces of thealuminum member 125.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when the crude cell 110 is received in thefirst receiving portion 121 of the package member 120, the length of theelectrode plates can be lengthened while the space of the electrode tabportion is reduced on the premise that the width of the battery and thenumber of the electrode plates (the anode plates and the cathode plates)are the same as a conventional battery.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, in the lithium secondary battery 100according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, since thelength Dl of the second receiving portion 131 occupied by the electrodetab 130 portion is reduced less than the length d1 of that of aconventional battery, the length D3 of the first receiving portion 121can be longer than the length d3 of that of the conventional battery.Consequently, the unnecessary dead space can be reduced and the capacityof the battery can be increased. As a matter of course, the thickness Tof the battery, i.e., the number of the electrode plates, and the widthW of the battery have constant values since the specification of abattery is predetermined by requirements of electronic appliances whichuse the battery.

Now, separate processes of a method of treating electrode tabs of acrude cell for a lithium secondary battery will be described as follows.

FIGS. 7A through 7H are process diagrams conceptually illustrating amethod of treating electrode tabs according to a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the stepsof the method.

In the following descriptions of the steps of this embodiment, themembers related to anode and cathode plates such as grids, tabs, or thelike are generally described without specifying their polarity.Therefore, such members whose polarity is not specified denote bothanode members and cathode members unless specifically stated otherwise.As a matter of course, in a specific process, it should be understoodthat members having any one polarity may be processed first, and thenmembers having the other polarity may be processed.

Referring to FIGS. 7A through 7H and FIG. 8, a method of treatingelectrode tabs according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention includes the steps of gathering and cutting grids 141 of acrude cell 110 (S10), welding the grids 141 to a tab member 143 (S20),attaching an insulating tape 147 to a welded portion 145 (S30), bendingthe grids 141 to form a first bend portion (S40), and bending the tabmember 143 to form a second bend portion (S50).

First, in the step S10, the grids 141 are gathered so that the endportions of the grids 141 may be close to a first surface 116 of thecrude cell 110, and be substantially parallel to the first surface 116.Then, the end portions of the grids 141 are cut.

As shown in FIG. 7A, generally, the grids 141 of the crude cell 110 aredisposed to be substantially parallel to the direction of electrodeplates (anode plates or cathode plates), or are randomly scattered.Therefore, in order to weld such grids 141 to the tab member 143 at oneposition, it is necessary to gather and arrange the grids 143. Inaddition, in order to minimize the dead space, it is necessary that thegrids 141 are cut to have a minimum length.

In the step S10, as shown in FIG. 9, when a slope 151 is moved tocontact the grids 141 while the crude cell 110 shown in FIG. 7A is fixedby a jig 150, the grids 141 are pushed to the direction of the firstsurface 116 of the crude cell 110, and are gathered to be substantiallyparallel to the first surface 116, as shown in FIG. 7B. Subsequently, asshown in FIG. 7C, when a cutter 160 having a predetermined shape israised while the crude cell is fixed, unnecessary portions of the endportions of the grids 141 are cut away, and the end portions of thegrids 141 are gathered more compactly, as shown in FIG. 7D.

Thereafter, in the step S20, the tab member 143 comprising a resinportion 142 and a non-resin portion 144 is welded to the grids 141 ofthe crude cell 110 shown in FIG. 7D, and laser welding, ultrasonicwelding, spot welding or the like is mainly used in this embodiment.Usually, the width of the tab member 143 is wider than that of the grids141. Therefore, although welding may be performed with the tab member143 disposed under the grids 141, it is preferable that welding isperformed with the tab member 143 disposed on the grids 141. The lengthof a welded portion 145 formed by welding the grids 141 to the endportion of the non-resin portion 144 of the tab member 143 is in a rangeof about 1.0 through 2.5 mm. As a matter of course, although welding canbe performed so that the length of the welded portion 145 may be shorterthan a minimum length of the range, the possibility of welding defectsincreases. To the contrary, when the length of the welded portion 145 islonger than a maximum length of the range, it is undesirable that theunnecessary dead space and material cost increase.

Thereafter, in the step S30, as shown in FIG. 7F and FIG. 10, the weldedportion is wrapped with tape so that metal (aluminum) portions 127 (FIG.6) of the package member 120 can be prevented from being damaged by thegrids 141 or the tab member 143, and therefore the battery 100 can beprevented from being short-circuited. Insulating tape 147 is attachedwith an adhesive (not shown) to the upper and lower surfaces of thewelded portion 145. Here, it is preferable that the insulating tape 147is made of polyimide or polypropylene film having characteristics ofheat-resistance and chemical inertness. In addition, it is preferablethat an acrylate-based adhesive or a silicone-based adhesive is used asan adhesive for attaching the insulating tape 147 to the welded portion145. It is preferable that dimensions of the insulating tape 147attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the welded portion 145 aresufficiently extended in the lengthwise direction of the grids 141 andthe tab member 143 and in the widthwise direction of the grids 141 withreference to the center of the welded portion 145.

Subsequently, in the step S40, as shown in FIG. 7G and FIG. 11, thegrids 141 are bent at a first bend portion 171 in the direction of arrowA in FIG. 11 so that the grids 141 may be close to a second surface 118which is opposite to the first surface 116 of the crude cell 110, andmay be perpendicular to the second surface 118. Here, it is notpreferable that the first bend portion 171 is formed at the weldedportion 145. In addition, although the first bend portion 171 may beformed at a portion of the grids 141 to which the insulating tape is notattached, it is preferable that the first bend portion 171 is formed atthe portion of the grids 141 to which the insulating tape 147 isattached. This is intended to maintain the first bend portion 171 in thebent shape by using the dimensionally stable insulating tape 147 sincethe grids 141 may have a property of restoration to its original shape,and may exhibit a tendency to be straightened. In addition, when thegrids 141 are bent together with the insulating tape 147, the strengthof the grids 141 can be maintained at the bent portion. For example, ina battery employing mesh type grids, although the grids suffer damage atthe first bend portion 171, there is an advantage in which theinsulating tape 147 can protect the grids 141 from damage.

Subsequently, in step S50, as shown in FIG. 7H and FIG. 12, the tabmember 143 is bent at the second bend portion 173 in the direction ofarrow B so that the tab member 143 may be close to the first bendportion 171 and may be substantially parallel to the first surface 116.It is not preferable that the second bend portion 173 is formed at thewelded portion 145, and it is preferable that the second bend portion173 is formed at a position which is at least farther than the weldedportion 145 from the first bend portion 171, and is positioned withinthe portion of the tab member 143 to which the insulating tape 147 isattached. The reason is that, as described above, the bent portions canbe maintained in a stable state, the strength of the tab member 143 andthe welded portion 145 can not be degraded, and the bend portions 171and 173 and the welded portion 145 can be protected from damage. Inaddition, it is preferable that the distance between the first bendportion 171 and the second bend portions 173 is adjusted to beappropriate for the number of stacked electrode plates of the crude cell110 (the thickness of the crude cell 110). That is, it is preferablethat when the number of stacked electrode plates is relatively large,the distance is set to be correspondingly long, and when the number ofstacked electrode plates is relatively small, the distance is set to becorrespondingly short.

On the contrary, the first bend portion 171 and the second bend portion173 may be formed at positions which are substantially close to bothsides of the insulating tape 147. That is, the first bend portion 171may be formed at a position within the portion composed of the grids 141only, and the second bend portion 173 may be formed at a position withinthe portion composed of the tab member 143 only so that the insulatingtape 147 may not be bent.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 again, since the lithium secondary battery100 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is manufacturedby the above-described method of treating electrode tabs of a crudecell, the welded portion of the tab member 143 to the grids 141 can beprotected by the insulating tape 147, and since the first bend portion171 and the second bend portion 173 are formed at portions to which theinsulating tape 147 are attached, the bent configuration of the bentportions can be more stably fixed, and the grids 141 and the tab member143 can be protected from damage.

FIGS. 13 through 15 are process diagrams schematically illustrating thesteps of a method of treating electrode tabs of a crude cell for alithium secondary battery according to another embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 16 is a schematic section view of a lithiumsecondary battery employing the crude cell shown in FIG. 15.

A method of treating electrode tabs of a crude cell 210 for a lithiumsecondary battery according to this embodiment further includes the stepof forming a third bend portion 250 in addition to a first bend portion220 and a second bend portion 240.

Although such a third bend portion 250 are necessary for variousreasons, the third bend portion 250 is mainly intended to flexibly meetdifferent processing conditions due to variations in the length of awelded portion 245, for example, a longer length of the welded portion245, and variations in the thickness of a battery determined by thenumber of stacked electrode plates (anode plates and cathode plates). Asa matter of course, in this embodiment, the number of processing stepsincreases correspondingly. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, it is preferablethat a non-resin portion 242 of a tab member 243 is set to be relativelylonger, and, as shown in FIG. 16, the tab member 243 is bent togetherwith insulating tape 247 at the third bend portion 250. To this end, theinsulating tape 247 having a length longer than that of the insulatingtape 147 of the previous embodiment is used.

FIG. 17 is a schematic section view illustrating a structure of alithium secondary battery employing a crude cell according to stillanother embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 17, a crude cell 310 according to this embodiment hasa structure in which after grids 311 are gathered and are welded to atab member 313 to form a welded portion 315, insulating tape 317 isattached to the circumference of the welded portion 315 without formingany bent portion. When such a crude cell 310 is received in a receivingportion 322 of a package member 320, a liquid electrolyte (not shown) isfilled into the receiving portion 322, and then the package member 320is hermetically sealed, the manufacture of a lithium secondary batteryis completed.

Here, since the welding step and the insulating tape attaching step havebeen described above, detailed descriptions concerning those steps areomitted. In addition, the crude cell 310 may be a unit cell or bi-cell,or a cell formed by stacking the unit cells or the bi-cells. The lithiumsecondary battery 300 according to this embodiment is not related to adecrease of the dead space, and is intended to prevent a short circuitfrom being formed.

As described above, the method of treating electrode tabs of a crudecell for a lithium secondary battery according to the present invention,and the crude cell and the battery according to the method have thefollowing effects.

First, since the circumferences of welded portions formed by welding tabmembers to grids of the lithium secondary battery are insulated byattaching insulating tape and, accordingly, the battery is preventedfrom forming a short circuit due to a sharp portion around weldedportions or a foreign material from a welding defect or the like, safetyand reliability of the battery can be enhanced.

Second, since the electrode tabs including the welded portions formed bywelding the tab members to the grids of the lithium secondary batteryare bent and disposed to be nearly parallel to a section of the battery,the dead space can be reduced to be smaller than that of a conventionalbattery, and since the length of the electrode plates can be lengthenedas much as the reduced dead space, there is an effect that the capacityof the battery can be increased when the battery is compared to aconventional battery having the same dimensional specifications.

Third, since the grids or the tab members are bent together with thedimensionally stable insulating tape in the steps of bending theelectrode tabs, the strength of the bent portions can be enhanced, andthere is an effect in which the bent portions are prevented from beingdamaged when the portions are being bent.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to preferred embodiments thereof it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A method of treating electrode tabs of a crude cell for a lithiumsecondary battery including the steps of: (a) welding a tab member to anend of a grid of said crude cell to create a welded portion; (b)attaching an insulating tape to the circumference of an electrode tab sothat said insulating tape can wrap around said electrode tab which isformed by said welded portion.